Evaporating apparatus



(No Model.) Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. W. NORTON. EVAPORATING APPARATUS.

Patented Nov. 5, 1889.,

(No Modem 2 sheets-sheet 2.

J. W. NORTON. BVAPORATlNG APPARATUS.

No. 414,436. `Pa.tentd Nov. 5, .1889.

` Ja'mes WJForwv UNrTen STATES rtree.

eTnNT JAMES YV. NORTON, OF WESTFIELD, NEV YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOJACOB C. FULLER, OF KINZUA, PENNSYLVANIA.

EVAPORAT! NG APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 414,436, dated November5, 1889.

Application led November 17, 1888. Serial No. 291,097. (No model) To allwhom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES XV. NORTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Testfield, in the county of Chautauqua and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in EvaporatingApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvementin evaporating apparatus; and itconsists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices, thatwill be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

, In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is partly' an elevation andpartly a sectional view of a saltevaporating apparatus embodying myimprovements. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal sectional view of theevaporator and its attachments, one side being broken away. Fig. 3 is avertical transverse sectional view taken on the line :c .r of Fig. 2.Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the distribut-ers.

A represents an evaporating pan or vessel, which has its bottom formedof two inclined planes B, arranged at a suitable angle and extending inopposite directions, and has its ends formed by a pair of vertical wallsC'. The pan or evaporator is supported on the vertical frame-Work D,which rises from the sills E, the ends of the latter extending asuitable distance beyond opposite sides of the evaporator. The latterhas at its opposite sides and communicating with the upper ends of theinclined planes a pair of downwardly-inclined portions F, which projectbeyond the sides of the evaporator, as shown.

G represents a pair of receptacles, which are supported on the sills andarranged at opposite sides of the evaporator.

Il represents a steam-heating coil, which is arranged transversely inthe center of the evaporator over the deepest portion thereof, and hasits ends extending through one of the vertical walls C, as shown in Fig.3. To the upper end of the coil is coupled a steamsuppiy pipe I, whichextends from a suit-able boiler, (not show-'11,) and tothe oppositelower ,end of the steam-coil is coupled an exhauststeam pipe K, whichmay either extend back to the boiler, below the water-line thereof, inorder to feed the-condensed steam back to the boiler, or the said pipe Kmay communicate with the outer air. Any suitable number of the steamcoiled pipes l-I may be employed, according` to the capacity and styleof the evaporator.

L represents a hot-air pipe, which is arranged transversely over thecenter of the evaporator, at a suitable distance above the steam-coil H.The said pipe L is composed of a number of comparatively short sectionsM, which are connected together by means of four-way or doubleT-couplings N. Frein the lower arm of each coupling M depends apipe O,which is arranged between the steam coiled pipes H and extends to withina suitable distance of the bottoni of the pan or evaporator, and eachpipe O has at its lower end a circular disk P. The upper end of eachpipe O is closed bya plug R, which may be removed when necessary toenable the pipes O to be cleaned. L extends through one of the verticalsides C of the evaporator and communicates with an air-heating chamberS, in which is arranged a steam-heating coil T; or the said pipe L maycommunicate with an air-chamber heated by a furnace or other suitablemeans, as a steam-coil need not necessarily be employed for thispurpose.

U represents an air pump or fan, which communicates with the air-heatingchamber S through a pipe V, and has an air-induction pipe iV of suitablelength, the outer end of which communicates with the pure external air.

A casing X, which is rectangular or of any other suitable form incross-section, is arranged transversely over the evaporating-pan, andhas its sides extending downward on opposite sides of the steam coiledpipes H, and of sufficient depth to extend belon7 the Waterline in theevaporator, the said casing Xhaving its lower side open, and having atits upper side a ventilator X2, which extends through the roof of thebuilding in which the evaporator is located, said ventilator permittingthe ready escape of vapor and air from the easing.

One end of the pipe IOO Journaled in suitable bearings, and ar-A havetheir' ends open, and have their lower sides provided with projectingscrapers A that bear upon the inclines B. To theupper side of eachbucket is hinged a gravity gate or valve B, which is adapted to closethe lower end of the bucket and to swing inwardly.

C represents a pair of operating-bars of suitable length, which havebails D at their lower ends, that are pivoted to the sides of the bucketat a slight distance below the centers of the same.

On drums Y are coiled wire ropes or chains E', the ends of which areattached to the bars C. The said drums or pulleys Y are provided withcranks, by means or which they maybe rotated; or said drums may beprovided with belt-pulleys to enable them to be rotated eithersimultaneously or alternately by a steam-engine or other motor.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The brine to be evaporatedis introduced to the evaporator and caused to submerge the steam coiledpipes H and the lower edges of the sides of the casing X. rlhe steamwhich passes through the steam-coil pipes I-l serves to heat the brinet0 such a degree as to cause it to'evaporate rapidly. The hot air forcedthrough' the pipe M by the pump or compressor escapes downward throughthe pipes O into the deepest portion of the brine, and is distributedlaterally through the same by the disks P, and serves to maintain thehigh temperature of the brine, and thereby causes the rapid evaporationthereof. It will be understood that the air is forced under pressure andat a high rate of speed through the brine, thereby causing the air toabsorb and eliminate a maximum quantity of water, and hence causing theprocess of evaporation to be very rapid and thorough. The hot air, as itpasses through the brine, causes the latter to ebulliate and henceprevent the particles of salt which are deposited on the inclined-bottomplates B by precipitation from forming a compact mass, and therebyeffectually performs the operation of graining the salt and completelyittin g the same for the market and for use on the table. Y The heatedair, as it passes through the brine, imparts oxygen thereto, and therebyimproves the quality of the salt. Another useful function performed bythe heated air is that the ebullition of the brine caused therebyprevents gypsum or earthy matter from being deposited on the coiledsteam-pipes. Y

In order to remove salt from the evaporator, the drums Y are firstrotated in one direction to cause the rods C to move the buckets Zdownward on the inclines B to the bottom of the evaporator. During thisdownward movement of the buckets the gates or valves B l'thereof areopened, as will be readily understood, and the scraper at the lower endof each bucket scrapes the salt from the bottom of the evaporator anddirects the same into the bucket. The rotation of the drums or pulleys Yis then reversed to cause the buckets to move upward on the inclines B.'At the initial upward movement of the buckets the valves B close toprevent the escape of the salt from the buckets, and the scrapers at theupper ends of the latter scrape salt from the inclines B into thebuckets as long as the vlatter are submerged in the brine. Vhen thebuckets reach the upper ends of the inclines B, they tilt automaticallyonto the inclined portions F, and the contents of the buckets arethereby discharged onto the perforated false bottoms G of thereceptacles G. The water is drained from the salt through theperforations in the false bottoms and the salt remains on the upper sideof the false bottoms, from whence it may be removed when a sufficientquantity has been accumulated.

Having thus described my invention, I claimrl. The evaporator having thebottom formed by the incline B, in combination with the heating-coilsarranged transversely in the evaporator over the central or deepestportion thereof, the casing X, arranged transversely over the evaporatorand over the coils, and having its sides extending downward into theevaporator below the water-line thereof, said casing having theventilators, and the hot-air pipe passing through the side of the casingand then downward through the steam-coils, substantially as described.

g 2. The evaporator having the bottom inclines B and the inclinedportions F at the outer sides thereof, in combination with thelongitudinally-Inovable rods C and the buckets pivotally connected tothe lower ends of said rods and adapted to travel on the bottom oftheevaporator, said buckets having the valves B at their lower ends,substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the evaporator having the bottom inclines B andthe inclined portions F at the outer ends thereof, of the receptacles Gat the sides of the evaporator, and the buckets adapted to move on thebottoms B and portions F, said buckets having the Scrapers at their endson their lower sides and having the valves B at their lower ends,substantially as described.

4. The evaporatorhaving the inclined bottoms B, in combination with thedrums or pulleys Y, the rods C, the cords, wires, or chains coiled onthe drums `and having their ends extending in opposite directions andattached to the rods C', and the buckets connected to the lower ends ofsaid rods and traveling on the bottom inclines of the evaporator,substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my oWnI have hereto aixed mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES IV. NORTON.

Vitnesses:

Ross KNIGHT, JAS. W. NORTON, Jr.

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